PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Friends and family of five Canadians
killed in a weekend explosion at a Mexican resort were reeling from their loss
Monday, as they prepared to come home from vacations that have turned into a
shared nightmare.

The apparent gas explosion at the Grand Riviera Princess Hotel, a sprawling
complex in the beach-lined resort of Playa del Carmen, tore through one of the
site’s lobbies Sunday morning, killing seven people.

A B.C. man in Mexico for his wedding, an Alberta father and his nine-year-
old son were three of the Canadians killed.

The dead have been identified as father and son Christopher Charmont, 41,
and John Charmont, 9, from Drumheller, Alta.; groom Malcolm Johnson, 33, from
Nanaimo, B.C.; Darlene Ferguson, 51, from the Edmonton area; and Elgin Barron,
from the Guelph, Ont. area.

“There’s been loss of life and it is a tragedy. But I’m sure that in the
next couple of weeks and months, the government of Mexico will be able to cast
and shed all of the light on this incident.”

Johnson was killed just days after saying “I do” on a beach in Mexico and
celebrating what was to be a new life with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

He had just left his new bride Heather Pynten, and their toddler to get a
coffee in the lounge of the hotel when the explosion ripped through the lobby
of the 676-room resort.

“It’s absolutely horrible,” said friend Dan Johnson, of Duncan, B.C. He
said he can’t imagine what Pynten is going through.

“Heather is such a sweetheart, too,’ Johnson said. “We really feel deep
sorrow for her and our prayers go with her.”

Johnson’s wedding photos had only just been posted online by his aunt.

“My nephew Malcolm and his beautiful bride, what a magical ceremony in
Playa Des Carmen. Love you both xoxo,” Debra Johnson wrote.

Friends of Terra Charmont – who lost her husband and young son in the
explosion – said they had been ready to head down to Cancun to assist her, but
she insisted they remain at home and help her on the ground in Canada until she
can get back.

Friend Tammi Garbutt said Monday that Charmont is holding up as best she can,
staying strong for their surviving daughter Megan, 11, who has suddenly lost
both her father and little brother.

The family had been in Mexico on an eagerly anticipated family vacation.

“I don’t even know how to describe (what she’s feeling),” said Garbutt,
after speaking to her friend.

She said she believed the mother and daughter were in the family’s hotel
together room when the explosion happened.

Soon after, Charmont went to find her husband and younger child. “Somebody
had come out, saw her distraught, looking for her husband and son, and has been
with them ever since,” said Garbutt.

“I think they’re Canadian. She has had some support. I’m glad she has
somebody. There were many people ready to go and be with her, and help her. She
wanted everybody to stay put, be here and be ready and do whatever she might
need.”

Chris Charmont worked as an instrument mechanic for more than 13 years with
the Calgary-based energy company Encana Corp.

Darlene Ferguson, an Edmonton-area grandmother who was in Mexico for her
son’s wedding, was walking with her two-year-old grandson when the blast went
off nearby, said her brother, Barry Hoffman. Ferguson died in hospital.

“We heard she was injured,” Hoffman said. “Then we heard one of her lungs
collapsed. Then we heard she passed away on the operating table.”

Family expect her injured grandson to survive, Hoffman said.

Cancun hospital director Dr. Italo Sampablo told Postmedia News on Sunday
evening four wounded Canadians were in stable condition at his hospital. Most
of them were taken to hospital for fractured limbs and burns, he said, but
added one had been expected to undergo “a minor operation” to the spine. Most
of the Canadian patients should be out of the hospital by Tuesday, Sampablo
said, while others could stay there as long as five days.

The Mexican government has issued a statement through its embassy in Ottawa
expressing “its solidarity and condolences to the families of victims who lost
their lives or were injured in this unfortunate incident.”

WestJet Airlines Ltd. has sent a rescue plane to pick up dozens of
vacationers from the resort. Trauma councillors will be on board as well, said
the company in a statement Monday.

“On that aircraft there are 15 to 20 special assistance team members,”
said WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer. “These are WestJet employees who step up
and volunteer to take additional training to work with people who have
experienced traumatic situations.”

Airline staff will be trying to find as many travellers as possible to see
if they want to stay.

“We are offering people the opportunity to move to other resorts if they
wish to continue their vacation in Cancun,” he said.

There were about 400 WestJet Vacations guests saying at the huge resort at
the time of the blast. The facility accommodates more than 2,000 people.